Four Seychelles Ministers working together over concerns raised by boat owners and boat captains

(Forimmediaterelease.net) Four Seychelles Ministers have sat together over the concerns raised by the boat owners and captains with regards to mooring and access to different beaches and islands. This meeting followed a previous meeting the boat owners and captains had with Alain St.Ange, the Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture.

Mr. Joel Morgan, the Minister for Home Affairs and Transport; Prof. Rolph Payet, the Minister for Environment; Mr. Alain St.Ange, the Minister for Tourism and Culture; and Mr. Christian Lionnet, the Minister for Land Use and Habitat, have met with the owners and operators of the Island Development Company (IDC), Denis Island, Fregate Resort, and North Island to discuss a comprehensive new approach in the sustainable development of Seychelles’ outer islands to enable the Seychelles tourism industry to benefit from the diversity of islands it speaks about. The discussions are aimed at paving the way for allowing local and foreigners to disembark on beaches and islands and to enable yachts to anchor at the different islands.

The meeting with the island managers was called in the wake of a meeting that boat owners and captains requested with Minister St.Ange to put forward their concerns in regards to access to beaches, anchoring, and dedicated mooring areas on these privately-owned outer islands, and also their concerns that Darros Island is now earmarked as a national park.

All four ministers unanimously agreed that these issues needed to be discussed intelligently to find a suitable way forward in the interest of all parties concerned.
The Ministers said that it is important to agree on an approach where all parties will come out with a win-win situation. They’ve proposed that the island operators and owners meet and work on drafting a document on how they can work with the boat owners and captains for the best interest of the tourism industry.

It was also proposed that the boat owners and captains nominate their representatives to sit with the island owners and operators and to come up with a list of their expectations and requirements. Both groups are to meet to table their propositions and come out with a common consensus and present a draft document to the Ministers, which will then be presented to the Cabinet.

The propositions reached between the Ministers and the island owners and operators was then tabled at a follow-up meeting with representatives of the boat owners and boat captains in the presence of the Chairman of the Seychelles Chamber and Commerce and Industry Dr. Ramados.

PHOTOS: Two back-to-back meetings at the Ministry of Tourism&Culture / Photo from Seychelles Ministry of Tourism&Culture